Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part seven (final part) of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!
It doesn't take long to get moving once I persuade Peter. Unfortunately, persuading him takes many hours, so by the time we are riding out, the sun is only a few hours away from setting.
"But what are you going to do?" he asks for the millionth time. "Yes, I'm sure we'll be able to find the joining place - from the map it doesn't look too hard to miss - but what are you going to do when we get there?"
"We need to find a way to join the world of the ghosts to the world of the dead," I say patiently. "Once they aren't trapped anymore, they won't need to force us to do anything, and we'll be safe from them."
"I know, Belle, but you have no idea how to join the worlds!"
"I'll make a plan," I say vaguely, glancing over my shoulder. I have the strangest feeling that someone is following us. Of course, this is just a feeling - we told no one we were going and made straight for the woods. We are totally hidden in the trees.
"You don't know what you're doing," Peter hisses.
"I've got to try, though. What else did you expect me to do?"
"I expected you to show a modicum of sense and let me handle this," Peter says angrily.
"Why did you agree to come, then?" I say, firing up. "Surely you want this to be over, too?"
"Not if it means you trying to do something so dangerous that nobody has even considered it before! You know why I agreed to come."
My insides squirm guiltily. Ok, telling Peter I was going whether or not he came with me may have been a bit low... but how else was I supposed to get him to agree? I can't let him live his whole life in bondage to the ghosts just so that I can be free...
Orisi is a week's journey away, and it is not a pleasant week. It would have been bad enough with Peter trying to persuade me to turn back at every waking moment, but the ghosts are not happy, either. They know where we are going, but don't seem to think we are a threat. Still, that doesn't stop them making Peter kill more and more people as we go. After one night of watching them torture him into agreeing yet again, I am offering to go myself if only they will stop hurting him. From then on, Peter goes without a word of protest, though I can see how much it costs him to do it.
Through the whole journey, I am jumpy, unable to shake the feeling that we are being followed. Peter and I stick to forests and uninhabited land as much as we can, not wanting trouble from anyone. At night, I sometimes think I can hear someone near our camp, but whenever I get up to look, there is no one there.
Finally, after a week of travelling, we are on the outskirts of Orisi - the joining lands, where the boundaries between the worlds are weakest. I sit by the fire, eating in silence, being glad of the silence while it lasts. Tomorrow, we'll enter the joining lands and find what we will.
Peter opens him mouth and I brace myself for yet more attempts to dissuade me from what I am going to try do.
"Belle?"
I glance up, cautiously straightening my body from its protective huddle.
"You really intend to do this, don't you?"
"Yes, Peter," I say wearily. Honestly, how many times will I have to tell him?
"I haven't been very supportive, have I?"
I laugh at this. "Not particularly."
"I'm sorry."
I shrug.
Peter gets up and comes to sit next to me. I automatically lean my head against his shoulder and sigh, realising just how much Peter's arguments have worn me down.
"We'll go in tomorrow and do whatever we can," I say. "Then we'll leave and go home. Everything will be fine."
"If only I could believe that."
I don't answer. I doubt I'll be able to convince Peter, seeing as I'm not fully convinced myself. I glance around, still trying to shake the feeling that there is someone watching, but as ever, no one is there.
Peter and I sit in silence, watching the flames of our campfire. Finally, he says that we should get some rest. For the first time, he pulls his bedroll over to mine, so that we are lying side by side.
"Belle, whatever happens tomorrow - "
"We'll be fine," I say quickly. "We'll be just fine, you'll see."
"But if - "
"Peter, don't. We are not going to say goodbye. We're both going to come out of this, you'll - "
Then I can't speak anymore because his lips are covering mine. I can't breathe or think or do anything but react. My head is spinning and Peter is the only real thing in the world as I clutch his shoulders. Finally, he breaks away.
"I love you," he says.
My heart seems to stop and for a second, I wonder if I imagined it. Surely, if you fantasize about something long enough, you will start imagining it happen in real life? But Peter is looking at me and I know I'm not imagining it.
"I love you too," I say softly.
He reaches his hand out of the bedroll to hold mine. I can feel his heart beating fast through his skin. Gradually, his pulse slows. It seems to take hours, but finally, we are both asleep.
When we wake, neither of us says anything about the previous night. I guess we're both saving it for if we're still alive this evening. Peter saddles the horses in silence, staring into the distance, to where we must go.
As we ride into Orisi, the land becomes drier, more like a desert than anything else. I don't know what we're looking for, but I can only hope we will know it when we find it.
For once, something goes right. We certainly know it when we find it. What looks like a great transparent wall rises up before us. Peter and I dismount and cautiously approach. The wall seems to be made of glass. I can see two separate sheets ahead of us, both spaced apart.
"Let me take a wild guess," I mutter. "This is the wall of the world of life. Behind is the wall for the ghosts' world, then the world of death."
"Well... I guess we should try to move them," Peter says hesitantly. I grimace. It can't possibly be that easy. Still, we've got to try. I slowly put my hand up against the wall and push. It doesn't give. Peter joins me, but no matter how many ways we try, there is just no way getting beyond that wall.
The sun falls and we are still trying. I am sitting on the ground, getting my breath back, when I hear a shrill laugh behind me. Spinning around, I see the pale, glowing form of the ghost who has been tormenting Peter.
"You see, you stupid humans? None but the dying can cross the walls between worlds, and even if you were, neither of you have the power to move the boundaries. It would take one who has been fighting us for years, and you, little children, are as weak as kittens against the forces of death."
My heart sinks. I should have known she would have stopped us if she really thought we were a threat.
"Maybe they are too weak, but I'm not."
"Michelle?"
"Mum?"
We gape at Peter's mother, who looks oddly impressive, silhouetted against the fading light. I suddenly realise why I kept feeling like someone was following us.
"Peter, stand back," she says warningly. "You two have done your part, putting the pieces together, finding out how to do it. I will go from here."
"What are you talking about?" Peter whispers.
Michelle doesn't reply, but takes a knife out of her belt. "I love you," she says.
Then she draws the knife in one swift motion and stabs herself in the stomach.
"NO!" Peter makes to run forward, but I grab him, using all my strength to hold him back.
"She'll do it anyway," I say, tears staining my voice. "You'll just die with her, Peter."
Michelle has fallen to the ground, but she pushes herself upright and staggers towards the solid barrier. The ghost is shouting something, looking scared, but I can barely hear her. My whole being is focused on Michelle, getting closer and closer to the barrier.
She walks through it as though it is merely mist. As soon as she is through, her shape seems to shimmer, but I can still see her. She staggers forwards, and when she reaches the barrier that holds the land of the ghosts, she puts both hands against it and pushes. Slowly, very slowly, it begins to move. As the barrier gets closer to the wall of death, the ghost beside us gets paler and paler, more and more transparent. I see Michelle give one last great push... then the barriers merge and she and the ghost are gone.
Even months later, no one likes to talk about it. The ghosts are gone, but the deeds that people were forced to perform under their command are all too real, and the memories too painful to speak of. Peter and I talk about it, though. Within a few weeks of his mother's death, I move into his house with him, ignoring my mother's squawks. After all, there is no reason to be afraid anymore, now that the ghosts are gone.
One day, one ordinary day when Peter and I are lounging on the couch together, he strokes my hair and says softly, "You were right."
"I was right?"
"You were right to go there. You never gave up on me, even when I had given up on myself." He kisses the top of my head. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," I whisper, leaning around to kiss him properly. "You're very welcome."
The End
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